David Hamilton, center, was a standout at Kentucky School for the Deaf who finished with 2,362 points and 1,008 rebounds in his career. Sekoe White, right, will be Hamilton's assistant and is also a former KSD player. (Deaflympics Photos)
Most 12th Region high school basketball fans probably have no idea who David Hamilton is and that’s too because he’s one of the most talented players to have ever played in the region.
He played at Kentucky School for the Deaf from 1977-82 and finished his career with 2,362 points — second best in KSD history — in 112 games across five seasons according to coach Bryon Wilson. He also grabbed 1,008 rebounds making him that rare prep player with 2,000 or more points and 1,000 or more rebounds.
He led KSD in scoring every season except his eighth-grade year and averaged 30.2 points per game in the 1979-80 season. That was second in the state to Ervin Stepp, a scoring machine at Phelps who averaged 53.7 points per game that season.
Hamilton scored 32 points IN THE FOURTH QUARTER after Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in the 1981 Mason-Dixon Tournament and finished the game with a career-high 48 points. He led KSD to runner-up finishes in the Mason-Dixon Tournament in 1979 and 1982.
In 1981, Hamilton helped lead KSD to its only 45th District Tournament victory with a win over Garrard County. That set the stage for one of the more memorable performances I have seen in a regional game when he had 34 points against Wayne County in front of a capacity crowd at Pulaski County in the regional. He received a standing ovation from fans when the game ended.
Now Hamilton is an American Sign Language assistant professor at Palomar College, a two-year community college in north San Diego. However, he’s always loved basketball and won five gold medals in the Deaflympics and has been named the head coach for the U.S. Deaflympics basketball team that will play in Tokyo this fall. Deaf Olympians, though, have to help raise funds to participate.
Hamilton understands how difficult that fundraising can be because he had to do it but always received support from KSD alumni.
In a recent interview with Palomar public affairs, Hamilton said his love for basketball came from his father, Oscar, who lives in Lexington..
“Since I was four years old, I remember my dad playing basketball. I was fascinated by watching him move and play on the court,” Hamilton said in the interview. “I fell in love with basketball, and I’ve been in love with it ever since.”
Hamilton made the Deaflympics for the first time when he was a 17-year-old high school student. Hamilton was the flagbearer for the U.S. team during the 1997 Deaflympics held in Denmark.
Hamilton won his fifth gold medal during the 2001 Deaflympics held in Rome, then started coaching for the team beginning in 2005. He stepped away from coaching but realized he missed basketball watching the Paris Olympics.
Hamilton said the Deaflympics is an opportunity for deaf athletes to express their love of basketball.
“It’s fun for them to compete and they love the peer support,” he said in the interview with Palomar officials. “They’re representing their country, and they can really show their skills. They want to win a medal and show their pride.”
